1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gyrotron apparatus and more particularly, a gyrotron apparatus having an improved arrangement with an oscillator tube unit and a collector structure can be fixed to individual supports.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well-known, the gyrotron apparatus is an electron tube whose operation is based on the electron cyclotron maser. This gyrotron apparatus has become increasingly common as a source for generating high-frequency waves of high power ranging from millimeter to sub-millimeter waves.
The gyrotron apparatus of this type includes an oscillation tube unit, a means for cooling a collector structure, and a superconductive magnet to form electron beam gyromotion. The oscillator tube unit includes: an electron gun section for generating electron beam; an electro-magnetic interaction section having a resonant cavity therein in which a high frequency electro-magnetic field is generated, a gyrating electron beam being introduced into the high frequency electric field to cause the fields to interact with one another; a collector for collecting the electron beam thus subjected to such interaction; and an electro-magnetic wave output section serving to pick up the electro-magnetic waves which have been generated in the interacting space outside the apparatus and having a dielectric window for air-tightly sealing the tube to maintain a vacuum in the tube. This gyrotron apparatus wherein the electron beam which has been subjected to the interaction is injected and collected by the collector and wherein a mode converter is housed to direct the high frequency waves traverse in front of the collector and pick up them through the output section projected from the side of the oscillator tube unit, is particularly suitable for high average power.
The collector of the high average power gyrotron is sometimes cooled by evaporation cooling. The cooling system of this type has a boiler jacket enclosing the collector electrodes. A vapor duct or coolant guide member is connected to the boiler jacket to exhaust vapor to outside of the gyrotron. The gyrotron apparatus has a length of several meters and a weight of several tons. In such a large gyrotron apparatus, the collector vibrates during operation. Particularly in a case where evaporation cooling is used, vibration is caused by bubbles generated when cooling water is boiled. As a result, the collector and the boiler jacket of the cooling system can severely vibrate. When this vibration is transmitted to the electro-magnetic interaction section and the electron gun section of the oscillator tube unit, and also to the super conductive magnet thereof, they are also vibrated. This vibration disturbs the positional relation between the electron beam, the high frequency electric field, and the magnetic field of the electromagnet at the interaction section defined in the resonant cavity, thereby degrading the normal oscillation of the gyrotron. Further, this vibration can cause breakage or damage to the super conductive magnet or other fragile component in the oscillator tube.